The city saw a dip in overall crime in October, but recorded a triple-digit increase in hate crimes fueled by a spike in anti-Jewish incidents, NYPD data released Wednesday shows.
The city’s overall crime index decreased by 3% year-over-year last month, but hate crimes jumped by 124% year-over-year, from 45 to 101, according to the data.
At a news briefing held late last month, police said the city had seen an increase in hate crimes since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Sixty-nine of the 101 incidents the NYPD recorded were anti-Jewish incidents, up from 22 out of the 45 incidents in October 2022.
The department also recorded eight anti-Muslim incidents — up from zero last October — and seven incidents it classified as “anti-ethnic” incidents, up from three last year.
At least four of those “anti-ethnic” incidents were anti-Palestinian incidents, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at last month’s briefing.
Citywide, the NYPD recorded a 26.7% drop in murders year-over-year last month, from 30 to 22; a 19.3% drop in reported rapes, from 150 to 121; a 22% drop in burglaries, from 1,441 to 1,124; and a 7.1% drop in grand larcenies, from 4,649 to 4,321.
Shooting incidents were down by 8.1%, from 86 in October 2022 to 79 last month.
Grand larcenies auto, however, were up by 11.3%, with 1,389 car thefts recorded last month compared to 1,248 in October 2022.
There was also a 6.9% increase in felony assaults year-over-year in October, from 2,181 to 2,332, and a 3.5% uptick in robberies, from 1,498 to 1,550, the NYPD data shows.
Crime in the transit system increased by 5.7% last month compared to October 2022, from 211 to 223, according to the data.
The NYPD said police made 5.3% more major crime category arrests last month than they did in October 2022 — from 4,376 arrests to 4,610 arrests — and made 361 arrests for gun possession.
“The men and women of the NYPD continue to work hand in hand with the people we serve throughout the five boroughs,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in a statement. “Public safety is a shared responsibility that takes everybody, in every neighborhood, doing their part.”
“That is how we will sustain low levels of crime and further reduce violence and disorder across our great city,” Caban added.